A FILM By MICHAEL¨ R. ROSKAM NTERNATIONAL PRESS WOLF Consultants [email protected] Gordon Spragg T: +49171 6466 970 Laurin Dietrich T: +49 157 7474 97 24

JEROEN PERCEVAL JEANNE DANDO Y BARBARA SARAFIAN SAM LOUW Y C K

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A FILM By MICHAEL¨ R. ROSKAM CELLULOID DREAMS 2, rue Turgot F -75011 Paris - 2011 - CRIME DRAMA - 129 min - SCOPE - dutch/french Tel.:+331 49 70 03 70 Fax:+ 331 49 70 03 71 [email protected] www.celluloid-dreams.com www.bullheadthefilm.com SYNOPSIS The young cattle farmer Jacky Vanmarsenille is approached by an unscrupulous veterinarian to make a shady deal with a notorious beef trader. But the assassination of a federal policeman, and an unexpected confrontation with a mysterious secret from Jacky’s past, set in motion a chain of events with unexpected tragic consequences.

BULLHEAD is a crime drama set in the world of hormone smugglers where tough farmers intimidate and bribe for illegal but profitable cattle trade. .. IN CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL ROSKAM Text: Geoffrey Macnab Early on in Michaël R. Roskam’s debut feature Bullhead, there is a shot of the main character Jacky sitting naked on the edge of a bath in the near dark. It’s an image eerily reminiscent of paintings by Lucian Freud or Francis Bacon. It is often said of these artists that they depict the human body as if it is a lump of flesh in an abattoir. In Bullhead, set in the world of hormone smuggling, the slaughterhouse isn’t just a metaphor. The world that Jacky inhabits is one in which cattle are injected with drugs that make them grow quicker so that they can be killed quicker and more profitably.

In the late 1990s, a vet was murdered in Belgium because he pried too closely into what was happening in the slaughterhouses. He had stumbled on a scheme to fatten livestock artificially - and illegally. The farmers behind it intimidated and bribed anyone in a position to reveal what they were doing. The police were slow to respond. After all, you don’t expect the agricultural world to be a hotbed of Mafia corruption. When the vet had exposed the farmers, they had had to destroy the bulls which had been fattened. They were furious at losing thousands of Euros. That’s why the vet was killed. Roskam studied the case in great detail. No, Bullhead isn’t based directly on what happened. This is fiction, after all. However, he freely acknowledges that this notorious case was one of the inspirations for his movie. ‘For me, Bullhead is like a tragedy,’ the writer-director muses. ‘It’s a tragic tale of destiny and innocence. I’ve always been fascinated by the American gangster films. I love them! I wanted to do one in my own way, on my own soil, with my own background.’

Roskam realised it would be utterly implausible to make a Godfather-style gangster pic in Belgium. ‘It doesn’t really exist,’ he says of the type of brooding, Italian-American mafia bosses played by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Of course, has crime. By honing in on the close-knit world of the ‘hormone mafia’, he hoped to find a Flemish equivalent to the Corleones and their sidekicks.

Bullhead has a conventional thriller narrative. There are cops, informers and plenty of heavies. However, this is as much a psychological character study as it is a gangster pic. Jacky has been deeply traumatised in childhood. As an adult, he has transformed himself into a bulky, muscle-bound and very imposing figure. No one messes with him. At the same time, Roskam insists, the character has an innocence and even an idealism about him. As a youngster, Roskam spent a few months working on a farm in the area where the film is set. He knew the milieu inside out. It’s a tough and unforgiving world. ‘But there are different social levels,’ he remembers. He was lucky enough to be employed by ‘gentleman farmers’ who were prepared to hire student workers.

There are some strange rituals in rural Flanders. When men are still unmarried in their 30s, they are often relentlessly mocked. ‘It’s typical that when you are 30 and you are single, your friends will take one of the worst pictures of you they can find. They’ll copy it, call you an ox, and distribute leaflets and posters which say that you are treating everybody to beer in the local pub. You have to go through with it.’

This is a very intense piece of filmmaking but it does have a comic undertow. Two hapless Wallonian mechanics get caught up in the hormone mafia. These French-speakers are bewildered and appalled by the behaviour of their Flemish counterparts. ‘You know, in The Hidden Fortress by Kurosawa, you have two low-lifes... or actually it’s like R2D2 and C3PO in Star Wars. They also help push the plot. Because of their stupidity, they actually create the circumstances that lead to the downfall of the main characters.’

Bullhead is Roskam’s first feature... and it took him five years to get it in front of the cameras. Over the last decade, he has made several well-received shorts, among them Haun, Carlo, The One Thing To Do and Today Is Friday. In the meantime, he worked on the Bullhead screenplay. And there have been some false starts along the way but the characteristic he has learned is patience. ‘I am old enough now to understand that I have to be patient and to work, work, work until the screenplay is as pure as I can have it.’ Roskam’s producer is Bart Van Langendonck of Savage Film. They already worked together on Haun, Carlo and The One Thing To Do.

The 38 year old filmmaker grew up not far from Liege in a community not that far from the one he portrays in Bullhead. His father is a picture restorer. Roskam began his own career as a painter. His initial passion as a teenager had been drawing comics. He studied graphic design and painting but soon decided that he ‘wanted to tell stories, to go from A to B,’ and not to be stuck with a single image. In his late 20s, he wasn’t quite sure which direction he wanted to head in. He wrote novels and dabbled in experimental video. ‘At 27 and 28, I was a big mess,’ he reflects ruefully. ‘It was a very dark period. I thought I would never find my feet. I lost discipline. I couldn’t finish work.’He describes making his first short film as being like ‘coming home’. At last, he had found a medium in which he could express himself. Yes, filmmaking is expensive and complex by comparison with painting on your own in a studio. It is also immensely time- consuming and there is often a small eternity between having an idea and being able to make the actual movie. ‘But I always make a joke about it. I am kind of lazy. I say that now I can disguise my laziness with patience!’

Bullhead was shot on 35mm. Not that the director considers himself a ‘fetishist of film stock’. He relished the quality and depth that cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis was able to achieve. However, if a digital format offered similar quality, he says he’d change immediately. ‘Up to now, the difference between film and digital has been like that between oil painting and acrylic painting.’

Karakatsanis is an outspoken personality with a strong artistic vision of his own. That’s precisely why Roskam relished working with him. ‘Many of the people I work with are not easy guys but I liked it. They keep me sharp. Easy is boring. They’re sharp, funny and serious at the same time. They want to work until everything is just right.’

What of Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays Jacky in Bullhead? ‘Oh, he’s easy…(the director winks) but not boring!’ the director says of the actor, who transformed himself into the brooding, massive Jacky. ‘I am very proud of him. He knew that he could use all his talent, which is enormous, to create this character. He knew he could go 100% with all that he had.’

So what now? Roskam has several treatments in advanced states of development.

He has become expert at shifting focus from one idea to another. He enjoys putting a project on one side and then revisiting some months later and seeing how it stands up. Roskam is writing a screenplay a mini-series project with the working title Buda Bridge Bitch – ‘it’s science fiction/film noir’.

He is also working with Jeroen Perceval on D’Ardennen, a road movie about three guys driving to the Ardennes with a corpse in the boot of their car. Another project is The Faithful, an escape/heist movie about a convict whose wife is dying of cancer and who plans to help him get out of prison. Whatever happens with Bullhead, the writer-director is bound to be busy over the coming months. ‘I have my stories ready! I have projects for the next 10 years,’ he jokes.

GEOFFREY MACNAB for Flanders I magazine, February 2011.

JEROEN PERCEVAL as DIEDERIK MAES

JEROEN PERCEVAL (b.1978) is the son of Flemish actor Luc Perceval. Since he graduated from the Studio Herman Teirlinck school of CAST acting in 2001 he has performed in several theater performances, including ‘Waiting for Godot’’ (Dood Paard) and ‘Oh Boy’ (Victoria). In 2007 he played Frederic in ‘WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE’, a feature film by Felix van Groeningen (‘MISFORTUNATES’). He also worked with Ruud Gielens on an adaptation of Paul Van Ostaijen’s ‘OCCUPIED CITY’ for the KVS theater in Brussels. He is currently working on MATTHIAS a screenplay based on his own play, ‘D’ARDENNEN,’ a Savage Film production with Roskam directing. SCHOENAERTS as JACKY VANMARSENILLE

MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS (b.1977) is the up and coming JEANNE DANDOY as LUCIA SCHEPERS leading man of contemporary Flemish-Belgian cinema. After graduating from the Conservatorium Toneel Dora JEANNE DANDOY (b.1974) is a French-speaking Belgian actress who grew up in a family of artists. She was 14 when she wrote her first Van der Groen school of acting in 2002, he has starred play. At 17 she enrolled in the Liege conservatory where she studied under Jacques Delcuvellerie and discovered the work of Groupov. in a number of award-winning shorts and features, She has since performed in a great number of theater productions. Lucia is her first role in a feature movie. including ‘MEISJE’ (Dorothée van den Berghe, 2002) and ‘ANY WAY THE WIND BLOWS’ (2003) by the singer/ musician (dEUS). He is now in high demand for roles in Belgian as well as Dutch films. He has played the lead roles in ‘DENNIS VAN RITA’ (Hilde Van Mieghem, BARBARA SARAFIAN as EVA FORRESTIER 2006), ‘LINKEROEVER’ (Pieter Van Hees, 2008) and in the critically acclaimed TV drama series ‘DE SMAAK VAN DE KEYSER’ ( and Jan Matthys, 2008). The BARBARA SARAFIAN (b.1968) got her start in Flemish radio, contributing to programs like ‘Sonja Duplex’ on Studio Brussel and ‘De last part got Schoenaerts an award for best actor in Nieuwe Wereld’ on Radio 1. She made a reputation as the funniest lady in Flanders with her performances on TV shows like ‘Alles Kan Belgian TV and a nomination for best actor at the Monte Beter’, ‘Kijk eens op de Doos’ and ‘Spike’. Sarafian made her international film debut in Peter Greenaway’s 8½ WOMEN (1999). She was Carlo film festival. Schoenarts also appeared in Paul also seen in Geoff Murphy’s FORTRESS II (1999), Roman ’s CQ (2001) and Rudolf Mestdagh’s ELLEKTRA (2004). Her portrayal of Verhoeven’s internationally acclaimed ‘BLACKBOOK’ housewife Matty in ‘MOSCOW, BELGIUM’ (Christophe van Rompaey, 2008) led to several international awards. Sarafian also played in and in ‘LOFT’ (Erik Van Looy, 2008). In 2009 Schoenaerts ‘SM-RECHTER’ (Erik Lamens, 2009), ‘MEISJES’ (, 2009) and ‘ZOT VAN A.’ (Jan Verheyen, 2010). In 2011 she appears delivered an impressive performance in Dorothée van in ‘MARIEKE, MARIEKE’ by Sophie Schoukens. den Berghe’s ‘MY QUEEN KARO’. In 2010 he also starred in Alec Stockman’s ‘PULSAR’. MICHAËL ROSKAM SAVAGE FILM

Michaël R. Roskam was born in Sint-Truiden (Belgium) in 1972. He studied painting at the St- Lukas academy of fine arts in Brussels(1997). Later when his passion led him to filmmaking, Savage Film is an independent production company founded in 2007 by Bart Van he was selected in 2005 to participate in the renomated script development program at Binger Langendonck and operating from Brussels in an association with Eyeworks. Savage Lab, , NL. Roskam directed several short films, among which “The One Thing To Film produces fiction, documentaries and dance films, with subjects just as versatile Do” (2005), “Carlo” (2004) and “Haun” (2002); three shorts that were selected and awarded as their directors’ backgrounds, Always daring or playful, Savage Film projects often nationally and internationally. He also teaches at the St. Lukas Film School in Brussels. balance between the boundaries of genres, be it fiction, documentary or art. Directors Savage Film works with include Michaël R. Roskam, Wim Vandekeybus, Frank Theys, FILMOGRAPHY Bram Van Paesschen, Mike Figgis, Pieter-Jan De Pue, Pascal Poissonnier, , Vincent Coen, Guillaume Vandenberghe, Jeroen Van der Stock, Thom Vander Beken, BULLHEAD (RUNDSKOP) (2011) Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, a.o. feature | 129 minutes | producer: Savage Film & Roskam Films Thanks to a triple slate funding from the Media Development Program of the E.U. and TODAY IS FRIDAY (2007) matching financial support from other sources (most importantly from the Flanders short | 12 minutes | producer: Savage Film & Roskam Films Audiovisual Fund), Savage Film has been able to develop and/or produce over a dozen film projects since 2007. THE ONE THING TO DO (2005) short | 25 minutes | producer: CCCP en SKIAPODE in samenwerking met ARTE After a career in music management and programming, Bart Van Langendonck was - Intl Short FF Leuven, Belgium – Public Prize Prize for Best Short Film general manager of choreographer and Wim Vandekeybus’ internationally - Nominated for the Joseph Plateau Prize for Best Short Film renowned dance company ‘Ultima Vez’. He then went on to produce documentaries, - Clermont Ferrand, 2007, Belgian Focus dance films and feature films, first for the film production company CCCP (from 2002 till 2006), after which he founded his own production company Savage Film, operating in an CARLO (2004) association with Flanders’ largest feature film production company Eyeworks. short | 18 minutes | producer: CCCP & Quasi Modo Bart Van Langendonck is also commission member of the CRRAV (Région Nord-Pas de - Festival du Court-Métrage de Bruxelles (2004) - National Competition – Best Photography Calais, ) documentary commission, board member of Media Desk Flanders and of - Intl Short FF Leuven – Public Award for best short & Honourable mention by the Jury Ultima Vez, and board member of the Flemish Film Producer’s Association (VFPB). He has - Polar dans la Ville Film festival, France, - Grand Jury Prize for the best Short Noir participated in many financing seminars such as Eurodoc, Media Business School, EDN, Documentary Campus among others. He is a founding member of the VOD-platform www. HAUN (2002) universcine.be and of the promotional platform for documentaries www.flandersdoc.be. short | 8.35 minutes | producer: Quasi Modo CREW CAST director MICHAËL R. ROSKAM Jacky Vanmarsenille MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS writer MICHAËL R. ROSKAM Diederik Maes JEROEN PERCEVAL producer BART VAN LANGENDONCK | SAVAGE FILM Lucia Schepers JEANNE DANDOY co-producers PETER BOUCKAERT | EYEWORKS PATRICK QUINET | ARTEMIS Eva Forrestier BARBARA SARAFIAN JAN VANDERZANDEN | WATERLAND FILM (NL) Antony De Greef TIBO VANDENBORRE line producer SASKIA VERBOVEN Sam Raymond FRANK LAMMERS 1st assistant-director SOFIE TUSSCHANS Marc De Kuyper SAM LOUWYCK director of photography NICOLAS KARAKATSANIS young Jacky Vanmarsenille ROBIN VALVEKENS sound engineer BENOIT DE CLERCK with the support of gaffer TIM JANSSENS THE FLANDERS AUDIOVISUAL FUND & FLANDERS IMAGE young Diederik Maes BAUDOUIN WOLWERTZ THE DUTCH FILM FUND art director WALTER BRUGMANS LE CENTRE DU CINEMA DE LA COMMUNAUTE FRANCAISE DE BELGIQUE Christian Filippini ERICO SALAMONE ET DES TELEDISTRIBUTEURS WALLONS make up MARIEL HOEVENAARS WALLIMAGE / BRUXELLIMAGE David Filippini PHILIPPE GRAND’HENRY THE MEDIA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME OF THE E.U. costumes MARGRIET PROCEE in collaboration with Jean Vanmarsenille KRIS CUPPENS editor ALAIN DESSAUVAGE KINEPOLIS FILM DISTRIBUTION PRIME / TELENET Irène Vanmarsenille SOFIE SENTE soundtrack RAF KEUNEN VTM JUST BRIDGE Stieve Vanmarsenille KRISTOF RENSON and the Belgian Tax Shelter for Film financing Eddy Vanmarsenille JEAN-MARIE LESUISSE

All photos©Nicolas Karakatsanis 2011